Large tonsils & sleep issues

[Merrow]

Does anyone have DCs with large tonsils? I took my DS, who's 3, to the GP as I was worried about his coughing during the night as I thought it was odd it was only at night and read it could be a sign of asthma. Turns out that he has really large tonsils (they were called "kissing tonsils") and so his breathing is worse as he sleeps and any cold he picks up will seem to linger at night. I was offered a referral to ENT if I felt if it was affecting the quality of his life, and the truth is I don't know if it is!

His breathing does sound horrendous as he sleeps - loud snoring and just laboured - but he rarely wakes up from it. We've had a really up and down week where his behaviour has been really difficult, things I'd normally associate with him being shattered, despite him sleeping around 12 hours a night. But he's also 3 and started at a new nursery, so the behaviour could be completely unrelated to his sleep.

Getting his tonsils out just seems like a big decision to make when he's only 3.

DD also has big tonsils and at 3/4 years old we declined having them removed. She's 8 now and has terrible issues, struggles to breath fully, colds that linger and go straight to her throat, struggles to swallow food sometimes. But for many reasons she now can't have them removed.

If you have the option, speak to ENT for advice

My DC had a tonsil and adenoid removal earlier this year. Huge difference. He had sleep apnea.
Look up Mr. Daniel Tweedie and the method he uses...rather than the old school approach.

Hi, my DD is now 11 and has been a very loud snorer all her life. When she was about 3 we took her to an ENT specialist who said she had very large tonsils. The specialist refused to remove them because of her age and said they would shrink as she becomes an older child. They haven’t and are still huge, she still snores so loud we can hear her downstairs. I’m pretty sure she has sleep apnea too as her father does so the signs are there. I think given the chance to have her tonsils removed now at the age of 11 she would be terrified, I kind of wish she could have had them removed when she was 3. Maybe see how he goes in the next couple of years? It is so hard isn’t it knowing what to do for the best with the little ones

I ended up having my tonsils out when I was 28 after years of snoring, interrupted sleep, repeated tonsilitis and antibiotics
I wished I'd had them out much younger...
Talk to ENT.

Get the ENT referral. They will probably do a sleep study to check for sleep apnoea. My DD had this when she was 3. We’d noticed noisy/laboured breathing at night. It turned out she was stopping breathing 30 times per hour. It wasn’t too intrusive to do the sleep study - basically it was an oximeter type machine she had to wear overnight.

She had tonsils and adenoids removed, which was an overnight stay in hospital and then 2 weeks at home recovery. It took a long time tho - a year from first seeing the GP to actually having the surgery (it was postponed twice for different reasons).

For our DD it wasn’t that there were any immediate impacts from the sleep apnoea, it’s the chronic disturbed sleep that will have huge impact over time. I would definitely suggest following up the ENT referral. Then if they do the sleep study you can make a decision based on that and the ENTs recommendations.

I would do it, the younger the better. Being unable to breathe through your nose is really bad for health in general and snoring is not normal for anyone but particularly not in young children. It’s EXTREMELY hard to meet the criteria for tonsil removal these days so if they are offering, take it.

Thank you everyone, you've all been really helpful. I've just shown thus thread to DP and we're going to go back to the GP and request the referral.

Get the referral, my daughter didn’t fair well at school due to sleep issues caused by huge tonsils, she was permanently tired and couldnt cope at school.

My DD is on the waiting list to have hers out. She is nearly 5. She has had sleep issues and is unable to breathe through her mouth although she had a sleep study which showed no sleep apnoea. The main reason they are coming out though is the risk of choking due to the size. I would definitely take the referral so they can be monitored